BJP to focus on southern states after big gains in Maharashtra, Haryana

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which managed to knock out the Congress from its bastions in Haryana and Maharashtra and is all set to form the government in both states, on Monday said it will now focus on the southern parts of the country. BJP's national secretary Muralidhar Rao told the media in Chennai that the verdict of assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana shows the people have immense faith in his party.

"Now after these elections, the BJP will take up the work in the south very seriously. We will be focusing our energies and our efforts in the south. When I say south, Tamil Nadu is very important and it will be the epicenter of our focus," said Rao. "So, these two victories have shown clearly people are with the BJP. People are with the leadership of BJP, particularly honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had campaigned vigorously," he added.

The BJP leader further said the Congress' bad governance has led to its debacle in both states. "This is the lesson which we have got from the very recent elections that people are with us, people are ready to receive and accept. So, the party will have to put more efforts and energies," he said. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party in Maharashtra winning 122 seats in the 288-member house. In Haryana, the BJP got a clear majority winning 47 seats in the 90-member house.